View-Through Conversion Tracking in Google Analytics
Table of Contents
- Importance of View-Through Conversions
- Introduction to Google Display Network (GDN) Impression Reporting
- Criteria for using GDN Impression Reporting
- How to Enable GDN Impression Reporting
- GDN Impression Data in Multi Channel Funnels Reports
- ‘Impression’ Interactions/Touch Points
- ‘Click’ Interactions/Touch Points
- ‘Rich Media’ Interactions/Touch Points
- Push attributes of viewed products into data layer
- Other articles on Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics
This article is related to Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics.
If you are brand new to Attribution Modelling then I would suggest reading this article first: Beginners Guide to Google Analytics Attribution Modeling.
I introduced the concept of view-through conversions in the article: Understanding view-through conversions in Google Adwords and explained in great detail, how and when such conversions are recorded and reported.
In the present article, I am going to explain, how these conversions can be tracked in Google Analytics.
Importance of View-Through Conversions
Not all people click on display ads after viewing them.
But this does not mean that they are not impacted by such ads at all, that display advertising play no role in influencing the buying behavior of your customers.
However, when it comes to measuring the impact of display advertising in driving conversions, we just can’t rely on faith or ‘correlation is causation’ theory. We need data.
Traditional tracking solutions (including standard Google Analytics) can measure and report ad impressions but they are not very good in tying these impressions to conversions.
If we could know, how ad impressions are driving conversions, what role do they play in a conversion path, we would be in a better position to understand the performance of display advertising esp. in the event where there is little to no ad clicks data available.
The ad impression which results in a conversion is called impression conversion or view-through conversion.
Google records and reports view-through conversions only for Google Display Network (GDN) ads and YouTube video ads.
It does not record and report view-through conversions for search network ads.
When a user views GDN ad or YouTube video ad but does not click it and then later visit your website to complete a conversion, then such type of conversion can be reported as ‘view-through’ conversion.
Get the Free E-Book (52 Pages)
Introduction to Google Display Network (GDN) Impression Reporting
You can see view-through conversions data in your Google Analytics multi-channel funnel reports via GDN impression reporting feature.
Through GDN impression reporting, advertisers can measure the impact of unclicked but viewed GDN ads (display ad impressions) in driving conversions.
The GDN impression reporting is available only for non-text GDN display ads (which includes rich media ads) and is available only in Google Analytics multi-channel funnels reports.
Criteria for using GDN Impression Reporting
In order to use GDN impression reporting, following conditions must be met first:
- You have got an active adwords account through which you are running Google display network campaigns.
- Conversion tracking is implemented in your Adwords account.
- Your adwords account is linked to your GA premium account.
- You use DoubleClick Campaign Manager (formerly known as Doubleclick for advertisers or DFA) or DoubleClick Bid Manager (DBM)
- Conversion tracking and/or ecommerce tracking is implemented in your GA premium account.
- Your Google Analytics Tracking code supports display advertising.
- Your privacy policy clearly tells your website users, that you use GDN impression reporting (not a technical requirement but required according to Google policy)
How to Enable GDN Impression Reporting
The GDN impression reporting needs to be enabled before it can be used. It is not available by default even if you are using GA premium.
Also, GDN impression reporting is not available to all. There used to be a way to get access to this reporting by requesting Google, to whitelist your GA account but that ability is long gone now.
The impression reporting now is available only to GA premium customers who either use Doubleclick Campaign Manager or Doubleclick Bid Manager.(DBM).
Just using GA premium is not enough to become eligible for GDN impression reporting. You also need to use either DFA or DBM, as far as I know.
Once you have met the criteria for using GDN impression reporting, contact your GA premium/360 account manager and ask him to link your DCM/DBM account to your Google Analytics account and activate the GDN impression reporting.
Get the E-book (52 Pages)
Get the E-Book (37 Pages)
GDN Impression Data in Multi-Channel Funnels Reports
Once the GDN impression reporting is enabled, you will see the following new features in your multi-channel funnel reports:
#1 The multi-channel funnel overview report will start showing:
- Click Assisted Conversions
- Impression Assisted Conversions and
- Rich Media Assisted Conversions
instead of Assisted Conversions:
Note: In the screenshot above, 66,758 conversions represent last click conversions which can include both Goal Conversions and Ecommerce Transactions.
Click Assisted Conversions – it is the number of conversions in which non-text display ad click assisted.
Impression Assisted Conversions – it is the number of conversions in which non-text display ad impression assisted.
Rich media Assisted Conversions – it is the number of conversions in which rich media interaction assisted.
Rich media interactions include:
- Click on video play, pause and resume button.
- Turning a video ad to full screen
- Expanding an ad
Note(1): Rich media ads are the dynamic image ads (the one which can change/animate). Youtube video ad is an example of rich media ad.
Note(2): Assisted conversions metric that you see in ‘Assisted conversions’ report is not the sum of: Click Assisted Conversions, Impression Assisted Conversions and Rich media Assisted Conversions.
This is because there is usually a lot of overlapping of conversion counting among Click Assisted Conversions, Impression Assisted Conversions and Rich media Assisted Conversions.
Assisted conversions metric that you see in ‘Assisted conversions’ report are the conversions other than the last click conversions.
#2 You will see a new drop down menu in all of your multi-channel funnel reports (except the overview report) called the ‘Interaction Type’:
The ‘Interaction Type’ menu contains the following interactions (touch points):
- #1 Impression (unclicked non-text display ad impression )
- #2 Click (or ad click)
- #3 Direct
- #4 Rich Media
#3 In the ‘Top Conversion’ paths report, you may see following two new touch points/interactions in conversion paths:
- Static image display impression (denoted by eye icon)
- Rich media display impression (denoted by video icon)
Without GDN impression reporting, this conversion path may look like the one below:
Thus without GDN impression reporting, your conversion paths may contain missing touch points and you may not get true picture of your customers’ purchase journey.
Through ‘Interaction Type’ menu, you can filter ‘top conversion path’ report based on how users interacted with your display ads:
‘Impression’ Interactions/Touch Points
When you select ‘impression’ from the ‘Interaction Type’ drop down menu, you can see all the conversion paths in which unclicked non-text display ad impressions assisted.
In other words, you can see all the conversion paths in which users completed a conversion on your website after viewing (but not clicking) your non-text display ads.
Get my best selling books on Attribution Modelling
- Learn to implement attribution modelling in your organisation
- Understand the customer purchase journey across devices
- Determine the most effective marketing channels for investment
Click book covers to find out more.
‘Click’ Interactions/Touch Points
When you select ‘click’ from the ‘Interaction Type’ drop down menu, you can see all the conversion paths in which non-text display ad clicks assisted.
In other words, you can see all the conversion paths in which users completed a conversion on your website after clicking on your non-text display ads.
‘Direct’ Interactions/Touch Points
When you select ‘direct’ from the ‘Interaction Type’ drop down menu, you can see all the conversion paths in which unclicked non-text display ad impressions resulted in direct conversions on your website.
In other words, you can see all the conversion paths in which users visited your website directly and completed a conversion on your website after viewing (but not clicking) your non-text display ads.
‘Rich Media’ Interactions/Touch Points
When you select ‘rich media’ from the ‘Interaction Type’ drop down menu, you can see all the conversion paths in which rich media interactions assisted.
In other words, you can see all the conversion paths in which users completed a goal conversion on your website after interacting with your rich media ads.
Note: If you have not set up Rich media ads, then you won’t see ‘Rich Media’ interaction option in the ‘Interaction Type’ drop down menu.
#4 After GDN impression reporting is enabled, your ‘Time Lag‘ multi channel funnel report will contain the ‘interaction type’ drop down menu through which you can filter this report, based on how users interacted with your display ads:
The ‘Time Lag’ report is used to determine how long it takes (in terms of number of days) for users to complete a conversion on your website.
Through ‘interaction type’ drop down menu, you can choose to select only ‘impression’ interaction and can determine, how long it took (in terms of number of days) for users to convert on your website after viewing your display (but without clicking on it).
For example, when I selected only ‘Impression’ interaction from ‘interaction type’ drop down menu, I concluded from the ‘Time Lag’ report that, it usually takes 12-30 days for user to convert on my website after viewing my display ads (but without clicking on them).
This is the kind of insight, you can get from ‘Time Lag’ report once you have enabled GDN impression reporting.
#5 Similarly, after GDN impression reporting is enabled, your ‘Path Length‘ multi channel funnel report will contain the ‘interaction type’ drop down menu through which you can filter this report, based on how users interacted with your display ads:
The ‘Path Length’ report shows how many interactions/touch points it took for users to complete a conversion on your website.
Through ‘interaction type’ drop down menu, you can choose to select say only ‘Rich Media’ interaction and can determine, how long it took (in terms of number of interactions) for users to convert on your website after viewing your Rich media display ads (but without clicking on them).
This is the kind of insight, you can get from ‘Path Length’ report once you have enabled GDN impression reporting.
Other articles on Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics
- Touch Point Analysis in Google Analytics Attribution Modelling
- 8 Google Analytics Conversions Segments You Must Use
- Default and Custom Attribution Models in Google Analytics
- Attribution Model Comparison Tool in Google Analytics
- Which Attribution Model to use in Google Analytics?
- How to create Custom Attribution Model in Google Analytics
- How to do ROI Analysis in Google Analytics
- Google Analytics Attribution Modelling – Complete Guide
- Guide to Data Driven Attribution Model in Google Analytics
- Conversion Credit distribution for Attribution Models in Google Analytics
- You are doing Google Analytics all wrong. Here is why
- Marketing Mix Modelling or Attribution Modelling. Which one is for you?
- Introduction to Nonline Analytics – True Multi Channel Analytics
- How to set up Data driven attribution model in Google Analytics
- How to valuate Display Advertising through Attribution Modelling
- Understanding Shopping Carts for Analytics and Conversion Optimization
- View-through conversion tracking in Google Analytics
- Understanding Missing Touch Points in Attribution Modelling
- Guide to Offline Conversion Tracking in Google Analytics
- How to explain attribution modelling to your clients
- 6 Keys to Digital Success in Attribution Modelling
- How to use ZMOT to increase Conversions and Sales exponentially
- How to Measure and Improve the Quality of SEO Traffic through Google Analytics
- How to analyse and report the true value of your SEO Campaign
- How to allocate Budgets in Multi Channel Marketing
- What You Should Know about Historical Data in Web Analytics
- Google Analytics Not Provided Keywords and how to unlock and analyze them
- Selecting the Best Attribution Model for Inbound Marketing
- Introduction to TV attribution in Google Analytics Attribution 360
- Cross Device Reports in Google Analytics via Google Signals
- Data-Driven Attribution Model Explorer in Google Analytics
Do you know the difference between Web Analytics and Google Analytics?
99.99% of course creators themselves don’t know the difference between Web analytics, Google Analytics (GA) and Google Tag Manager (GTM).
So they are teaching GA and GTM in the name of teaching Web analytics.
They just copy each other. Monkey see, monkey do.
But Web analytics is not about GA, GTM.
It is about analyzing and interpreting data, setting up goals, strategies and KPIs.
It’s about creating strategic roadmap for your business.
Web Analytics is the core skill. Google Analytics is just a tool used to implement ‘Web Analytics’.
You can also implement ‘Web analytics’ via other tools like ‘adobe analytics’, ‘kissmetrics’ etc.
Using Google Analytics without the good understanding of ‘Web analytics’ is like driving around in a car, in a big city without understanding the traffic rules and road signs.
You are either likely to end up somewhere other than your destination or you get involved in an accident.
You learn data analysis and interpretation from Web analytics and not from Google Analytics.
The direction in which your analysis will move, will determine the direction in which your marketing campaigns and eventually your company will move to get the highest possible return on investment.
You get that direction from ‘Web analytics’ and not from ‘Google Analytics’.
You learn to set up KPIs, strategies and measurement framework for your business from ‘Web analytics’ and not from ‘Google Analytics’.
So if you are taking a course only on 'Google Analytics’, you are learning to use one of the tools of ‘Web analytics’. You are not learning the ‘Web analytics’ itself.
Since any person can learn to use Google Analytics in couple of weeks, you do no get any competitive advantage in the marketplace just by knowing GA.
You need to know lot more than GA in order to work in Web analytics and marketing field.
So what I have done, if you are interested, is I have put together a completely free training that will teach you exactly how I have been able to leverage web/digital analytics to generate floods of news sales and customers and how you can literally copy what I have done to get similar results.
Here what You'll Learn On This FREE Web Class!
1) Why digital analytics is the key to online business success
2) The number 1 reason why most marketers are not able to scale their advertising and maximize sales.
3) Why Google and Facebook ads don’t work for most businesses & how to make them work.
4) Why you won’t get any competitive advantage in the marketplace just by knowing Google Analytics.
5) The number 1 reason why conversion optimization is not working for your business.
6) How to advertise on any marketing platform for FREE with an unlimited budget.
7) How to learn and master digital analytics and conversion optimization in record time.
My best selling books on Digital Analytics and Conversion Optimization
Maths and Stats for Web Analytics and Conversion Optimization
This expert guide will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of maths and statistics in order to accurately interpret data and take actions, which can quickly improve the bottom-line of your online business.
Master the Essentials of Email Marketing Analytics
This book focuses solely on the ‘analytics’ that power your email marketing optimization program and will help you dramatically reduce your cost per acquisition and increase marketing ROI by tracking the performance of the various KPIs and metrics used for email marketing.
Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics and Beyond
Attribution modelling is the process of determining the most effective marketing channels for investment. This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling. It will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to allocate marketing budget and understand buying behaviour.
Attribution Modelling in Google Ads and Facebook
This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling in Google Ads (Google AdWords) and Facebook. It will teach you, how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to understand the customer purchasing journey and determine the most effective marketing channels for investment.
Himanshu Sharma
Digital Marketing Consultant and Founder of Optimizesmart.com
Table of Contents
- Importance of View-Through Conversions
- Introduction to Google Display Network (GDN) Impression Reporting
- Criteria for using GDN Impression Reporting
- How to Enable GDN Impression Reporting
- GDN Impression Data in Multi Channel Funnels Reports
- ‘Impression’ Interactions/Touch Points
- ‘Click’ Interactions/Touch Points
- ‘Rich Media’ Interactions/Touch Points
- Push attributes of viewed products into data layer
- Other articles on Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics
This article is related to Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics.
If you are brand new to Attribution Modelling then I would suggest reading this article first: Beginners Guide to Google Analytics Attribution Modeling.
I introduced the concept of view-through conversions in the article: Understanding view-through conversions in Google Adwords and explained in great detail, how and when such conversions are recorded and reported.
In the present article, I am going to explain, how these conversions can be tracked in Google Analytics.
Importance of View-Through Conversions
Not all people click on display ads after viewing them.
But this does not mean that they are not impacted by such ads at all, that display advertising play no role in influencing the buying behavior of your customers.
However, when it comes to measuring the impact of display advertising in driving conversions, we just can’t rely on faith or ‘correlation is causation’ theory. We need data.
Traditional tracking solutions (including standard Google Analytics) can measure and report ad impressions but they are not very good in tying these impressions to conversions.
If we could know, how ad impressions are driving conversions, what role do they play in a conversion path, we would be in a better position to understand the performance of display advertising esp. in the event where there is little to no ad clicks data available.
The ad impression which results in a conversion is called impression conversion or view-through conversion.
Google records and reports view-through conversions only for Google Display Network (GDN) ads and YouTube video ads.
It does not record and report view-through conversions for search network ads.
When a user views GDN ad or YouTube video ad but does not click it and then later visit your website to complete a conversion, then such type of conversion can be reported as ‘view-through’ conversion.
Get the Free E-Book (52 Pages)
Introduction to Google Display Network (GDN) Impression Reporting
You can see view-through conversions data in your Google Analytics multi-channel funnel reports via GDN impression reporting feature.
Through GDN impression reporting, advertisers can measure the impact of unclicked but viewed GDN ads (display ad impressions) in driving conversions.
The GDN impression reporting is available only for non-text GDN display ads (which includes rich media ads) and is available only in Google Analytics multi-channel funnels reports.
Criteria for using GDN Impression Reporting
In order to use GDN impression reporting, following conditions must be met first:
- You have got an active adwords account through which you are running Google display network campaigns.
- Conversion tracking is implemented in your Adwords account.
- Your adwords account is linked to your GA premium account.
- You use DoubleClick Campaign Manager (formerly known as Doubleclick for advertisers or DFA) or DoubleClick Bid Manager (DBM)
- Conversion tracking and/or ecommerce tracking is implemented in your GA premium account.
- Your Google Analytics Tracking code supports display advertising.
- Your privacy policy clearly tells your website users, that you use GDN impression reporting (not a technical requirement but required according to Google policy)
How to Enable GDN Impression Reporting
The GDN impression reporting needs to be enabled before it can be used. It is not available by default even if you are using GA premium.
Also, GDN impression reporting is not available to all. There used to be a way to get access to this reporting by requesting Google, to whitelist your GA account but that ability is long gone now.
The impression reporting now is available only to GA premium customers who either use Doubleclick Campaign Manager or Doubleclick Bid Manager.(DBM).
Just using GA premium is not enough to become eligible for GDN impression reporting. You also need to use either DFA or DBM, as far as I know.
Once you have met the criteria for using GDN impression reporting, contact your GA premium/360 account manager and ask him to link your DCM/DBM account to your Google Analytics account and activate the GDN impression reporting.
Get the E-book (52 Pages)
Get the E-Book (37 Pages)
GDN Impression Data in Multi-Channel Funnels Reports
Once the GDN impression reporting is enabled, you will see the following new features in your multi-channel funnel reports:
#1 The multi-channel funnel overview report will start showing:
- Click Assisted Conversions
- Impression Assisted Conversions and
- Rich Media Assisted Conversions
instead of Assisted Conversions:
Note: In the screenshot above, 66,758 conversions represent last click conversions which can include both Goal Conversions and Ecommerce Transactions.
Click Assisted Conversions – it is the number of conversions in which non-text display ad click assisted.
Impression Assisted Conversions – it is the number of conversions in which non-text display ad impression assisted.
Rich media Assisted Conversions – it is the number of conversions in which rich media interaction assisted.
Rich media interactions include:
- Click on video play, pause and resume button.
- Turning a video ad to full screen
- Expanding an ad
Note(1): Rich media ads are the dynamic image ads (the one which can change/animate). Youtube video ad is an example of rich media ad.
Note(2): Assisted conversions metric that you see in ‘Assisted conversions’ report is not the sum of: Click Assisted Conversions, Impression Assisted Conversions and Rich media Assisted Conversions.
This is because there is usually a lot of overlapping of conversion counting among Click Assisted Conversions, Impression Assisted Conversions and Rich media Assisted Conversions.
Assisted conversions metric that you see in ‘Assisted conversions’ report are the conversions other than the last click conversions.
#2 You will see a new drop down menu in all of your multi-channel funnel reports (except the overview report) called the ‘Interaction Type’:
The ‘Interaction Type’ menu contains the following interactions (touch points):
- #1 Impression (unclicked non-text display ad impression )
- #2 Click (or ad click)
- #3 Direct
- #4 Rich Media
#3 In the ‘Top Conversion’ paths report, you may see following two new touch points/interactions in conversion paths:
- Static image display impression (denoted by eye icon)
- Rich media display impression (denoted by video icon)
Without GDN impression reporting, this conversion path may look like the one below:
Thus without GDN impression reporting, your conversion paths may contain missing touch points and you may not get true picture of your customers’ purchase journey.
Through ‘Interaction Type’ menu, you can filter ‘top conversion path’ report based on how users interacted with your display ads:
‘Impression’ Interactions/Touch Points
When you select ‘impression’ from the ‘Interaction Type’ drop down menu, you can see all the conversion paths in which unclicked non-text display ad impressions assisted.
In other words, you can see all the conversion paths in which users completed a conversion on your website after viewing (but not clicking) your non-text display ads.
Get my best selling books on Attribution Modelling
- Learn to implement attribution modelling in your organisation
- Understand the customer purchase journey across devices
- Determine the most effective marketing channels for investment
Click book covers to find out more.
‘Click’ Interactions/Touch Points
When you select ‘click’ from the ‘Interaction Type’ drop down menu, you can see all the conversion paths in which non-text display ad clicks assisted.
In other words, you can see all the conversion paths in which users completed a conversion on your website after clicking on your non-text display ads.
‘Direct’ Interactions/Touch Points
When you select ‘direct’ from the ‘Interaction Type’ drop down menu, you can see all the conversion paths in which unclicked non-text display ad impressions resulted in direct conversions on your website.
In other words, you can see all the conversion paths in which users visited your website directly and completed a conversion on your website after viewing (but not clicking) your non-text display ads.
‘Rich Media’ Interactions/Touch Points
When you select ‘rich media’ from the ‘Interaction Type’ drop down menu, you can see all the conversion paths in which rich media interactions assisted.
In other words, you can see all the conversion paths in which users completed a goal conversion on your website after interacting with your rich media ads.
Note: If you have not set up Rich media ads, then you won’t see ‘Rich Media’ interaction option in the ‘Interaction Type’ drop down menu.
#4 After GDN impression reporting is enabled, your ‘Time Lag‘ multi channel funnel report will contain the ‘interaction type’ drop down menu through which you can filter this report, based on how users interacted with your display ads:
The ‘Time Lag’ report is used to determine how long it takes (in terms of number of days) for users to complete a conversion on your website.
Through ‘interaction type’ drop down menu, you can choose to select only ‘impression’ interaction and can determine, how long it took (in terms of number of days) for users to convert on your website after viewing your display (but without clicking on it).
For example, when I selected only ‘Impression’ interaction from ‘interaction type’ drop down menu, I concluded from the ‘Time Lag’ report that, it usually takes 12-30 days for user to convert on my website after viewing my display ads (but without clicking on them).
This is the kind of insight, you can get from ‘Time Lag’ report once you have enabled GDN impression reporting.
#5 Similarly, after GDN impression reporting is enabled, your ‘Path Length‘ multi channel funnel report will contain the ‘interaction type’ drop down menu through which you can filter this report, based on how users interacted with your display ads:
The ‘Path Length’ report shows how many interactions/touch points it took for users to complete a conversion on your website.
Through ‘interaction type’ drop down menu, you can choose to select say only ‘Rich Media’ interaction and can determine, how long it took (in terms of number of interactions) for users to convert on your website after viewing your Rich media display ads (but without clicking on them).
This is the kind of insight, you can get from ‘Path Length’ report once you have enabled GDN impression reporting.
Other articles on Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics
- Touch Point Analysis in Google Analytics Attribution Modelling
- 8 Google Analytics Conversions Segments You Must Use
- Default and Custom Attribution Models in Google Analytics
- Attribution Model Comparison Tool in Google Analytics
- Which Attribution Model to use in Google Analytics?
- How to create Custom Attribution Model in Google Analytics
- How to do ROI Analysis in Google Analytics
- Google Analytics Attribution Modelling – Complete Guide
- Guide to Data Driven Attribution Model in Google Analytics
- Conversion Credit distribution for Attribution Models in Google Analytics
- You are doing Google Analytics all wrong. Here is why
- Marketing Mix Modelling or Attribution Modelling. Which one is for you?
- Introduction to Nonline Analytics – True Multi Channel Analytics
- How to set up Data driven attribution model in Google Analytics
- How to valuate Display Advertising through Attribution Modelling
- Understanding Shopping Carts for Analytics and Conversion Optimization
- View-through conversion tracking in Google Analytics
- Understanding Missing Touch Points in Attribution Modelling
- Guide to Offline Conversion Tracking in Google Analytics
- How to explain attribution modelling to your clients
- 6 Keys to Digital Success in Attribution Modelling
- How to use ZMOT to increase Conversions and Sales exponentially
- How to Measure and Improve the Quality of SEO Traffic through Google Analytics
- How to analyse and report the true value of your SEO Campaign
- How to allocate Budgets in Multi Channel Marketing
- What You Should Know about Historical Data in Web Analytics
- Google Analytics Not Provided Keywords and how to unlock and analyze them
- Selecting the Best Attribution Model for Inbound Marketing
- Introduction to TV attribution in Google Analytics Attribution 360
- Cross Device Reports in Google Analytics via Google Signals
- Data-Driven Attribution Model Explorer in Google Analytics
Do you know the difference between Web Analytics and Google Analytics?
99.99% of course creators themselves don’t know the difference between Web analytics, Google Analytics (GA) and Google Tag Manager (GTM).So they are teaching GA and GTM in the name of teaching Web analytics.
They just copy each other. Monkey see, monkey do.
But Web analytics is not about GA, GTM.
It is about analyzing and interpreting data, setting up goals, strategies and KPIs.
It’s about creating strategic roadmap for your business.
Web Analytics is the core skill. Google Analytics is just a tool used to implement ‘Web Analytics’.You can also implement ‘Web analytics’ via other tools like ‘adobe analytics’, ‘kissmetrics’ etc.
Using Google Analytics without the good understanding of ‘Web analytics’ is like driving around in a car, in a big city without understanding the traffic rules and road signs.
You are either likely to end up somewhere other than your destination or you get involved in an accident.
You learn data analysis and interpretation from Web analytics and not from Google Analytics.The direction in which your analysis will move, will determine the direction in which your marketing campaigns and eventually your company will move to get the highest possible return on investment.
You get that direction from ‘Web analytics’ and not from ‘Google Analytics’.
You learn to set up KPIs, strategies and measurement framework for your business from ‘Web analytics’ and not from ‘Google Analytics’.So if you are taking a course only on 'Google Analytics’, you are learning to use one of the tools of ‘Web analytics’. You are not learning the ‘Web analytics’ itself.
Since any person can learn to use Google Analytics in couple of weeks, you do no get any competitive advantage in the marketplace just by knowing GA.
You need to know lot more than GA in order to work in Web analytics and marketing field.
So what I have done, if you are interested, is I have put together a completely free training that will teach you exactly how I have been able to leverage web/digital analytics to generate floods of news sales and customers and how you can literally copy what I have done to get similar results.
Here what You'll Learn On This FREE Web Class!
1) Why digital analytics is the key to online business success
2) The number 1 reason why most marketers are not able to scale their advertising and maximize sales.
3) Why Google and Facebook ads don’t work for most businesses & how to make them work.
4) Why you won’t get any competitive advantage in the marketplace just by knowing Google Analytics.
5) The number 1 reason why conversion optimization is not working for your business.
6) How to advertise on any marketing platform for FREE with an unlimited budget.
7) How to learn and master digital analytics and conversion optimization in record time.
My best selling books on Digital Analytics and Conversion Optimization
Maths and Stats for Web Analytics and Conversion Optimization
This expert guide will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of maths and statistics in order to accurately interpret data and take actions, which can quickly improve the bottom-line of your online business.
Master the Essentials of Email Marketing Analytics
This book focuses solely on the ‘analytics’ that power your email marketing optimization program and will help you dramatically reduce your cost per acquisition and increase marketing ROI by tracking the performance of the various KPIs and metrics used for email marketing.
Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics and Beyond
Attribution modelling is the process of determining the most effective marketing channels for investment. This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling. It will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to allocate marketing budget and understand buying behaviour.
Attribution Modelling in Google Ads and Facebook
This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling in Google Ads (Google AdWords) and Facebook. It will teach you, how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to understand the customer purchasing journey and determine the most effective marketing channels for investment.
Himanshu Sharma
Digital Marketing Consultant and Founder of Optimizesmart.com